Ricardo Lopez is my favourite Mexican fighter of all time, Sanchez is second. Anyone who puts Sanchez ahead of Lopez has my respect.
I have the Cowdell Sanchez fight in the house on DVD. Havent watched it in ages and to honest it isnt a great fight. Sanchez won the fight by Split Decision which was a joke, it was clearly quite a wide UD for Sanchez. I have about 6 or 7 other Cowdell fights as well and as you say he was a solid EBU level fighter but struggled when moving up.
Lopez is great no doubt about it. Its his resume that is lacking. He should have moved up in weight to fight Carbajal and Chiquita Gonzalez. Then he would have some big names to add to his tremendous ability and skillset.
Each to their own i suppose, I just liked his style and enjoyed watching his fights, would have been interesting seeing him fight in another era. Salvador, Lopez, JCC are my top 3 any order is understandable.
You lookin for a reasonable debate? Go to Classic, we're mentally inept in General lol. And he died giving one of his greatest showings of heart & skill. Imagine JCC reitring after Taylor 1 and before Whitaker & Randall. Pretty sure he'd be looked at as one of the top 3 greatest Mexican fighters if he's not currently. True point. Sal could've met his kryptonite and many people(including me like a year ago) overrated him as he died in his prime without fulfilling his full potential. Tend to be more unbiased in current times lol Hahahaha, Duran(yes he has some Mexican blood) and Sanchez are my fav Mexican fighters of all time. JMM is my fav of this time. All the ones we mentioned are great fighters nonetheless.
I have the Cowdell-Azumah Nelson fight on an old VHS and Nelson obliterated Pat in a round (I think:think) and I remember Pat took it very badly and was upset because he felt he'd let everyone down.He did put a lot into the game at an unheralded level after he retired and I'm sure he still does.Think he does smaller promotions as well. When you think about it,how frightening was that division in the early eighties?:scaredas: I know what the guy's saying about overrating people when they die young.It's a good point and nothing induces nostalgia like tragic death. I'm not saying Chava would have been the greatest of all time,but I do think he had a bit more than Chavez.No criticism meant. Lopez has always been underrated by the masses and is one of the most natural,fluid boxers I have ever seen.He was just the wrong size at the wrong time.There's no limit to what you could imagine he could achieve in a different era or a different weight.It's just human nature.
At 23 no ****ing way in hell he reached his prime. He wasn't going to burn out early in his career like Tyson or other fighters that liked to go to war. People forget he was originally a brawler and a good one at that and didn't take alot of punushment. And when he did he had an iron chin to back it up. Extremely high ring IQ he never rushed for the ko. Cool smooth operator. Sanchez had the movement, the defense, the ring smarts, and chin to beat Arguello. Arguello never did well with mobile fighters.